1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a surgical drape and method of making a surgical drape suitable for surgery, the center portion of which is formed of a nonwoven material and which has transparent side or lower portions connected to opposite sides of the nonwoven material for the purpose of allowing viewing of instruments or other apparatuses and control mechanisms beneath a table which may be utilized, for example, in surgery.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Prior art surgical drapes are known and are exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 4,476,860 which discloses a surgical drape which includes a main sheet of flexible material having an inner surface for facing toward a patient after placement of the drape, and an outer surface facing away from the patient after displacement of the drape. The drape has a pair of pockets on the outer surface of the main sheet and includes an outer edge defining an opening of the pockets which face towards each other. This drape has the drawback, however, of not allowing for viewing of instruments or other apparatuses and control mechanisms which would be normally located beneath the surgical table. This can possibly lead to difficulties in terms of operation of control mechanisms during surgery or locating apparatuses which are of assistance to the surgeon or the surgeon's support staff during surgery.